My timing belt recently broke, and the shop that the car was taken to, did a completely botched up job on replacing it.In short, all the parts taken off the car to replace the timing belt, weren't put back on. Literally. Even the motor mount. They gave me a bag on my passenger seat, with a...
So, onto the next round of why this car was a bad idea.Driving home from work, cruising at around 2,000 rpm, just taking it easy. Heard a sound that sounded a lot like a lightbulb going out. Kind of a "pff", but very quiet.Didn't think anything of it for a few seconds, until I realized that...
The terms of the title bond state that within that time frame, if anyone claims the vehicle as theirs....the bond company will pay them the bonded amount, and I then have to pay back the bond company.It's not likely anyone will claim it, but until that time expires, my title says "bonded title".
Thanks to the kid who gave me the car, the title was goofed up, and the DMV wouldn't accept it.Long story short: 2 months later, $200 for a title bond, a VIN inspection by a cop, and $95 for registration, the car FINALLY has a tag on it.And I have to wait 3 years before the car becomes...
The stripes had to go, but sadly, they didn't go with nearly the success that cleaning the headlights did.First was a heatgun, because the stripes on my car were vinyls, that were painted over.That worked on a few inches, but then it became apparent that the vinyls were only partially still...
I gave the stripper a try. It did a far better job of removing the paint, but it still ended up getting smeared all over the place. My girlfriend worked on one side of the car, while I tried sanding down my botched job from the day before.It's a good thing I didn't care about the paint...
Small update. Decided to try using some mineral spirits I had laying around the house.Two things from this:1. It turns out that there is no vinyl under the paint over most of the side of the car. There's vinyl in some areas only.
2. Mineral spirits are not strong enough, but I'm thinking...
Looks like "considerable amount of time" would be more accurate. The heatgun does do a good job of softening up the paint. But everywhere there is a crack in the paint (which there are hundreds), the heatgun breaks through the vinyl. So I can only strip away an inch, and then the vinyl breaks...
I get that vinyl is pretty easy to remove. Heat gun/hair dryer, some kind of straight edge....Or just fingernails and a lot of time.The problem with my car is that i have vinyls on the side that look like they have been painted over with some kind of house paint. I think. I thought it...
Honestly, I'm doubting it was anything more than a hiccup, at this point. My CEL hasn't been on since that visit, and there's no change at all in the performance of the car.I've got a multimeter in storage, but it'll be the weekend before I can get it out. I'll prod around on a few things...
Just the outside. When I did the first pass, I took a look to see how much of it was external, and it really looked like it was about 99%....didn't see a reason to get too crazy with the cleaning.Thanks for the compliments, guys. :)
Followed the advice of the masses, and did a cleaning of my headlights.Had to do two takes on it, as I'm still learning...didn't get everything wet sanded the first time around.They're still not perfect, as far as perfection goes....but for intents and purposes, they're all I could hope...
Guess I gotta add a vote to the wet sand/3m crowd. Gave it a try today, and the results are awesome.I don't have a drill or a buffer, so I had to do it all by hand.....so it didn't turn out immaculate, per se, but a hell of a lot better than they were. For my first try at it, I'm pleased.
I appreciate all the feedback, fellas. I wish there was a way I could update the poll to include 3M, since that seems to be a pretty universal answer.I've seen Ventureshield and the like used on car fronts, no idea why it didn't occur to me that it would protect headlights the same.So, it'd...
I know there are several hundred, if not thousands, of posts in regards to how to clean headlights.The main reason I don't have many posts, even though I've been on here for 7~ years, is because there is such a wealth of info. I generally don't have to ask anything - I can just search for it...
Thanks! :DMy math might be a little wrong, because it was $50 for my headlights too. I think it was $90~, total. $30 the other day and 60 today. Oops.The sales guy was having issues with the customer ahead of me, took about 10 minutes to get resolved. When I got there, he charged me for...
It is my great fortune that I live 8 miles from a Pull A Part. I went previously, to get a center console from an Avenger, and looked for a few parts to fix my GST. I know, nothing original about swapping to an Avenger dash, but I like the look, so who cares?Went back today, to get the...
0261, from 2001-2006. Secondary billet of Special Weapons and Tactics Analyst, during my last tour in the sand. No MOS code for that, just something my Col. came up with for me to do....best time I had in the Corps.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Chaotic762/angle.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a85/Chaotic762/talon_cleaned_2.jpg1992 TSI AWD. Picked it up from a used car lot/junkyard, with the owner saying it didn't run. $700. Threw new sparkplugs in it, and a ton of fuel injector cleaner, and...
1995 = Not OBDII apparently. Even with the salesperson in my car, under my steering wheel, and looking at the port. :idontknow:So, I guess "wouldn't check it" would be the more grammatically correct statement.
I didn't see anywhere that my blog had to be different than my forum post. The only rule I saw was to keep questions to the forums. Which is why no questions were included in my blog. Except for one rhetorical one.One was looking for advice on the mechanic situation. The other is a journal...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys.I'm NOT paying those prices. Those were just the estimates that I've gotten from the local shop.The process that was involved in the injector "being bad" was this:Check engine light came on.
Took to local shop.
They took it for a test drive.
After fiddling...
In Georgia, state law provides that the seller of a vehicle must provide current and passing emissions to a buyer.Yeah, okay. You can guess how often that actually happens.Of course, it was advertised as "emissions in hand".Nope. Car hadn't been tested in a year. And with the check engine...
Well, I knew that there was struts to be done, and possibly a TPS.This was followed by a check engine light, yesterday. A quick run to a service station yielded these results:1 injector going bad. Replace all for $1500.Transmission going bad. Replace for $2700.My current estimated bill...
It was just a matter of time before someone called me out on that, haha.Sure, the car needs love. But seeing as the last owner apparently no intentions of taking care of this thing...I'd rather see a bill, then see it go to the junkyard.Calan, you say you doubt it was the injector...? I...
Yeah, I know I'm getting hosed. Still, it's not as bad as the time I brought in my 97 GST for a tuneup a few years ago, and they wanted to charge me 4 hours labor for the sparkplugs.Their explanation? An Eclipse's sparkplugs are underneath the intake manifold, and take a while to get to...
As mentioned in my last post, got a 1995 Eclipse the other day...asked about the costs for struts and TPS, and have narrowed that down to doing it myself, as much as possible.Ended up getting a check engine light today (isn't this car just awesome? hahaha), so I figured, might as well have...
Well, that pretty much confirms what I was thinking on the TPS. There's a Pull-A-Part barely 5 minutes from my house, need to cruise over there and see what I can grab. Looks like there's 3 Eclipses on the lot, so one of them may have what I need.I'll admit, also, that I'm not entirely sure...
Just picked up a 1995 GST, and has two primary things I want to address from the start:1. The TPS looks like it's going faulty. Normal situation, high rev at rpm, jerks when going into gear. On occasion it drives fine, etc.2. Seems like either the struts or strut mounts are bad. Going...
Found a 1995 GST for sale on Craigslist, at $2300. Looked riced out, and in need of some love, so I offered my 1996 Prelude Si for it. Two days later, this is my new foundation for fun.Needs struts. Needs a TPS (I think the kid who owned it thought the transmission was going, because of the...
That certainly answer that. Thanks! :thumb:Leads me to wonder why several vendors have said it was acceptable......but I'll definitely be working on getting my money back.
Called one of the vendors listed, however, and they said that while not ideal, it's still perfectly acceptable, and at my psi range, it should last, no problem.So....A wiseman on one side, a vendor on the other. :confused:
Alright, so the side to side is okay; and we're now 2 to 1 on whether the in/out is okay.Thanks for the input so far. :thumb: I guess I'll see about getting my money back....
So, that's one vote for acceptable, one for not.I paid $350 for it and the o2 housing....which isn't next to nothing, but it's not as much as I've seen them go for, either....That's why I'm somewhat on the middle of the road. I didn't pay enough to feel completely ripped off, but also...
I've tried searching, and have found dozens of threads talking about this, and while some people seem fully adamant about requiring turbos to have zero shaftplay, others say some is normal, etc. I'm going to assume that zero is ideal, but at what measurement, does it become unacceptable? I...
Haven't adjusted the BISS yet. Just read up on how to do that, might try that next.As far as shifts go, it's shifting the same way it was before I swapped out the ISC. I just drove it around some, and it's at exactly 18mph when decelerating, that I feel the shudder; not 10mph like I...
First, yes, I've searched.
Vehicle is a 1997 GST.
Anyway....Recently pinged the error code for the ISC, so I went ahead and replaced both that and the fiav. The car now holds a perfectly solid 1500rpm idle in park, and a 1000 rpm idle when in gear. When slowing down, as I approach about...
haha, I know i'll be back...can't stay away from these damnable things for too long...just next time it'll be awd and with a five speed... :sneaky:
Also looking for a late 80's toyota supra, as opposed to an RX....just throwing that out there.... :shhh:
Now...if only i'd stop getting emails...
Well, ladies and gents....I have to say goodbye to the DSM world. It's been a blast, but I've decided to put the GST up for sale. Granted, I might not have been the most dedicated or contributing member here, but I hope I helped somewhere or another. I appreciate all the advice and help I've...
I'd say go for it. They're awesome cars. Just do a few things to it, and you won't even have to worry about the larger mechanical issues. Other than that, I had mine for three years, and loved every minute of it, right until it exploded. But that was my fault. :rolleyes:
Let me be the first to vote for buying 4,000 gumballs. Granted, it might not make you go faster, but how many people can say they have 4,000 gumballs? I sure can't.\
On a serious note, i have owned a MkIII supra, and will be buying one again someday. Beautiful car in my opinion. Just keep an...
Well....as previously mentioned, a 454 was going to go in it. Maybe whoever picks it up will get the same idea and have fun with it. Just so long as i don't run into them and get smoked. :thumb: